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The Vertigo ride, the tallest ever at the Rose Festival, is supposed to be set up in the morning.

MARCH 25 2014. Vancouver Giants Payton Lee holds his position against a charging Portland Winterhawks Dominic Turgeon in game three of WHL playoffs at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, B.C., on March 25, 2014. Giants Tyler Morrison tries to help out. Steve Bosch/Vancouver Sun
(Steve Bosch)

Dominic Turgeon was at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Saturday, in section 113, about 15 rows from the floor.

Dressed a gray suit, light blue shirt, gray and blue tie. Sitting with his father, Pierre, a former NHL star, along with his mother, Elisabeth, and sister Valerie. This was it, the 2014 NHL draft.

Turgeon and his family didn't have to wait long before Dominic's name was called, third pick in the third round, No. 63 overall, by the Detroit Red Wings, who traded up to get him.

"I was just really, really happy," Turgeon said. "It was Detroit, such a great organization. I'm really happy."

Later on Saturday, the Red Wings played host at a Phillies baseball game to celebrate. "So, I got to meet a lot of people in the organization and talk around. It was good," he said.

Up next, he'll head to Detroit on Thursday for a Red Wings camp.

"This has been a great organization for a lot of years," Turgeon said. "I hear the way they develop kids in this organization is really good."

Turgeon centered Portland's third line this season as the Winterhawks contended for a second consecutive Western Hockey League title. They lost in Game 7 of the league championship finals to the Edmonton Oil Kings, who went on the win the Memorial Cup.

For him, everything came together midway through this past season. When several Hawks players were away during the winter holidays at international tournaments, Turgeon and linemates Keegan Iverson and Alex Schoenborn developed a chemistry so strong and effective that it was the one line then-coach Mike Johnston didn't alter throughout the remainder of the regular season and the playoffs.

Turgeon played 65 games, scoring 10 goals and adding 21 assists (31 points) during the regular season. He also scored two goals and had six assists (eight points) in 21 playoff games.

Hockey has been a part of his life since he can remember, "since watching my dad in the locker room."

Pierre Turgeon, also a center, was a No. 1 draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres in the 1987 draft and played on six NHL teams, finishing his career with more than 500 goals.

Dominic Turgeon said he promised himself "at a young age that the NHL was my goal. And right around Christmas time was when I proved myself, and proved to myself that I was on the right path."